HTC HD mini review: Smart pup

Reasonable retail package

HTC HD mini comes in a modestly-sized box, but if there’s anything that this phone is trying to teach us is that size isn’t all important. Indeed, all the essentials are covered and the only major omission is a memory card.

It leaves you with no adequate storage out of the box but microSD cards go for pennies these days.

The HTC HD mini box and its contents

In the box you will find a microUSB cable, a one-piece headset and a very sleek charger. The microUSB cable is used for both data connections and charging.

There is also a whole load of paperwork inside the retail package, including a leaflet with an activation key for the CoPilot navigation software. Don’t get your hopes too high though as it is only good for 15 days – you will need to purchase a license after that.

We also made a short unboxing video to show you what the HD mini accessories look like.

HTC HD mini 360-degree spin

The HTC HD mini is way smaller than the HTC HD2, but that’s hardly a great achievement by itself. Miniaturization is nowhere near the scale of the XPERIA X10 mini. The HTC HD mini has the benefit of a reasonably sized screen though and a slimmer waistline.

The HTC HD mini next to the HTC HD2

The HTC HD mini stands at 103 x 57.7 x 11.7 mm, which is just slightly more compact than the average touchphone. However this is more than enough to make it amazingly pocket-friendly and we doubt it there will be too many people unhappy with its size.

The HD HD mini next to the Apple iPhone 3G and the LG GD880 mini

The HTC HD mini weight of 110 grams comes as a little surprise given the dimensions. We do like it when a phone weighs more than its volume suggests as it gives a nice solid feel. Still, even if you like your phones light, the HD mini won’t disappoint.

Design and construction

The all-black body of the HTC HD mini probably won’t blow your mind but we do appreciate the solid gadgety feel of this stocky bloke. The time-tested formula of quality build and minimalistic design has worked once again for HTC. It’s the accents they added however, that work quite well too.

The HTC HD mini is targeting a younger audience than the HD2 and those are exactly the kind of people that might appreciate those oddities.

Strangely enough, the HTC HD mini rear cover notably adds to the phone’s size. It covers the sides of the handset too. One would think that designing a mini handset, they’d need to shave every possible millimeter off but maybe HTC opted for ruggedness instead.